When our leadership team identified our core values several years ago, one of the easiest to choose was “Growth Minded.” But why? The answer is easily found in my garden. Have you ever grown anything from seed? If so, why?
I have long loved gardening, and it’s a hobby that has followed me from the back steps of an apartment to the terrace of our condo and now to a small yard in the suburbs. A few years ago, to fend off the late winter blues, I tried growing my plants from seed for the first time. And I’m hooked!
The anticipation when first planting seeds matches the excitement of starting new programs and onboarding new customers at Green Home Experts. I imagine the possibilities to create something from nothing! And I’m committed to putting in the patience, vigilance and hard work necessary to get us to harvest.
Over the course of 4-12 weeks, I watch my little seedlings reach toward the light. I water them, fertilize them, and eventually pot them up into bigger containers. Then starts the hardening off process, during which I drag everything outside for a few hours each day, to get them used to their eventual home in the yard, and then drag everything back inside to protect them at night.
The big day usually comes around Mothers Day, when my seedlings, whom I’ve raised by hand their entire lives, go into the ground! There I ensure they get plenty of sun, water and nutrients throughout the summer. I keep the weeds away and hope our pollinator friends outnumber the rabbits and chipmunks. And then the seedlings pay me back with their blossoms, fruits and vegetables! Taste one tomato picked fresh off the vine, grill ears of corn harvested from your own yard, and share a bouquet of gorgeous flowers with your neighbor, and your life will never be the same!
The same goes for our work inside the warehouse. All of the planning, program design, tweaking and implementation is hard work. It’s frustrating when our harvest isn’t as big as hoped. It can be overwhelming when we have a bumper crop. But why do we do it? Because the work we do at Green Home Experts serves people in several states who benefit from it. And the team we employ to do this work is passionate and talented.
Give someone a job opportunity through a workforce development program, wow your clients with innovative ways to deliver energy efficiency, and make good on your promises to bring your seedlings to harvest, and your life will never be the same!
Dusty Miller, which has finally germinated for me after two previous, failed attempts.